2 January 1917; Tuesday

January 1917,

On duty as usual. Harvey’s turn off. Kept busy all day. A man with a temperature of 103 at night. CSM1 had a temperature of 103.22 and was delirious. We moved him to the hospital at the top of the village in the Ford car at 10 o’clock. Rain a good part of the night.

News of Russian retreat in Roumania34.

  1. CSM: Company Sergeant-Major. ↩

  2. 103.2 °F is c. 39.5 °C; a moderate fever. ↩

  3. In late 1916, the Russians began sending numerous reinforcements to Moldavia to prevent an invasion of southern Russia, significantly reducing their presence in Romania. Southern Romania fell into the hands of the Central Powers. See Romania during World War I at Wikipedia. ↩

  4. See also note on 30 August 1916 re spelling of Romania. ↩

1 January 1917; Monday

January 1917, , , ,

Up at 7 o’clock, on duty as usual in the hospital. Finished after dinner and went up to Y M. Wrote two letters, one to Ernie and one to Charlie. Stayed to tea. Came down and received a letter from home. Heard that we are moving this weekend. Went to the concert of the †Shower Shifters†1 and it was not up to much.

  1. Transcription doubtful; no concert party of this name identified. ↩

31 December 1916; Sunday

December 1916,

Up about 7 o’clock and on duty as usual. Kept busy all day. Managed to get away at 7 o’clock at night and went to the Y M service. It was very good and the parson preached from the text “Fear not”1. The last hymn “For all the saints”2 went very well indeed. Slept out the year. McGowan was drunk and made a collection to buy some bottles of beer.

THE END3

  1. Fear not: Probably Isaiah 41:14; “Fear not, thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel; I will help thee,” saith the Lord and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. ↩

  2. For All the Saints: a processional hymn by the Anglican Bishop of Wakefield, William Walsham How, first printed in Hymns for Saints’ Days, and Other Hymns, by Earl Nelson, 1864. Since 1906, this hymn has usually been sung to the tune Sine Nomine (without name) by Ralph Vaughan Williams. ↩

  3. It was ALL’s habit to write “THE END”, or some variation thereof, on the last day of each diary; q.v. 1914, 1915. ↩

28 December 1916; Thursday

December 1916, ,

Up as usual. My first free day off. Spent it at the Y M writing letters to Mr Eaves, Sister Annie1 and home. Heard a speech and a bit of a debate in the Y M last thing.

  1. Sister Annie may have been a deaconess associated with one or more churches in Sunderland, including the South Durham Street United Methodist Free Church, where ALL was a member. Her name continues to appear in the diaries occasionally. ↩